Control mechanism



Myv16, 1944.' n. F. WARNER 2,343,763

c'oNTRoL MECHANISM v v Y original miga Jan. 6, 1940 2 Sheng-sheet 1 v Inventor Y v Donad. F Wa'ne l by :J9/I

, Fig. l.

Y JM/M., is Attorney May 16, 1944. D. E. WARNER 2, 8,768

cQNTRoL MECHANISM original Filed Jan. 6. 1940 2 sheets-sheet 2 InS/e'nt-o-r: Donaldli Warne'r;

His Attorney.

1 I l l Il Paie'niee Mey is, 194e tiene 2,348,768 CONTROL MEcHANrsM Donald F. Warner, Swampscott, Mass., asslgnor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Original application January 6, 1940, Serial No. y

1942, Serial No. 452,024

4` Claims. (Cl. 121-41) The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of control mechanisms, rugged in constructiomcompact in design, and especially adapted for use on aircraft.

For a consideration of what I believe to be` novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the'claims appended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In 'the drawings Ih'g. 1 illustrates a diagrammatic explanatory view of a mechanism embody'- ing my invention; Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a control mechanism in accordance with my invention; Fig. 3, is a plane front View, partly broken away, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a part of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is aisection along line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

A control mechanism yaccording to my inven tion, as diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1, comprises a hydraulic motor with a piston 26 secured to the end of a stem 21 for connection tov an element to be controlled, and a control member or pilot' valve 28 with valve heads .29 and for controlling the supply and discharge of operating fluid under pressure through channels 3| and 32 respectively. The valve heads 29 and 30 aresecured to a stem 33. Operating iluid under pressure is .supplied-to the lpilot valve by a supply conduit 35. vDuring operation, upward movement of the pilot valve heads causes ow of fluid under pressure tothe upper portion of the cylinder 25 through the conduit 32 and discharge of iluid from the lower portion' of the cylinder 26 through the conduit 3l whereby the piston 26 is moved downward. The restoring action of the pilot valve is accomplished in` known manner in means to the right-hand end of a lloating lever),

The latter has an intermediate point corrnected tothe pilot valve stem 33. The left-hand end 'of the lever 36 is connected by a link 39 to a y lug 40 fastened to the stem 21. With this ar- Divided and this application July 23,

rangement downward movement of the pilot valve causes upward movement of the hydraulic motor piston 28 land itsstem 21. The followup lever 36 is turned upward about its right-hand end. vThis causes upward movement of the lever 33 about its left-hand end whereby the original position of the pilot valve' heads is restored.

The lever 36 in addition to its restoring function also serves as a control lever. To this end its right-hand end is connected to one arm of a bell-crankleverl 4I held on a fulcrum' 42 and having another .arm pivotally connected to a. link or control member 43. The link 43 maybe moved by an operator or pilot to change the load output of the engine.

The left-hand end of the floating lever 361s connected rto a device responsive to changes of a condition to be controlled, in the present instance the absolute pressure in a container, not shown.

This device comprises a hermetically sealed. evacuated bellows 44 held at its lower'end on a support 45 and mechanically cbnnected at its upper end to a stem or pin 46. The'latter ls also connected to the lower end of a bellows/41 having an upper end held on a fixed support 48. The

bellows 41 communicates through a pipe 49 with a container of fluid under pressure such as a conduit for conducting air under pressure to a combustion engine (not shown) and thereby moves during operation in response to pressure'changes in such container. The range of pressure over which the mechanism or regulator will control may be varied by an adjustable tension spring disposed within the bellows and connected between an extension of the aforementioned stem 46 and an adjustable bolt and nut 5I. The stem 46 has an arm or lug 52 pivotally connected to the lefthand end of the lever 38. l

During operation an increase in pressure in the pipe 49 causes expansion of the bellows 41 whereby its lower end is moved downwardand causes downward movement of the pilot valve 28, thus admitting fluid under pressure to the lower side of the hydraulic motor 'piston 26 and dis-A charge of fluid under pressure from the upperA side thereof, resulting in upward movement of" valve position through the follow-up connection Similarly, a decrease inpressure as, 31 and as. in the pipe 49 causing collapsing of the lbellows 41 results in downward movement of the piston 26 and the stem 21'connected thereto If 4during operation the pressure in the pipe 49 remains constant and the atmospheric pressure decreases or increases, the bellows 44 will collapse and expand respectively, resulting in movement of the hydraulic motor piston 26. As best shown in Fig. 2, the mechanism forms a compact structure with the various elements supported on and partly formed by and enclosedin a casing 60. The cas- This connection in the diagrammatic view of Fig. l is formed by link means 31. The follow-up lmovement of the lever 36, that is, the ratio of movement between the motor 25 and the pilot valve 23 is very small. In a particular arrangement which has been in operation this ratio is of 'the order of 12200. To obtain such la; reduction ing 63 has a detachable bottom 68a and a detachable side plate 68h (Fig. 3) and is machined to form the bore of the hydraulic cylinder 25 closed at its lower end by a plug 61. The pilot valve 28 includes a sleeve 62 inserted in a bore 63 of the casing 68. The conduit 3| between the hydraulic motor 25 and the pilot valve 28 is formed by a horizontal bore in the casing and the conduit 32 is formed by a vertical bore 64 connected by a lower horizontal bore 65 to the pilot valve andby an upperihorizontal bore 66 'to the hydraulic cylinder. Fluid is supplied to the pilot valve by the conduit 35 connected to a channel 61 in the casing'60 and ports 68 in the sleeve 62. During operation fluid from the hydraulic motor 25 is discharged in response to upward movement of the pilot valve heads from the open lower end of the pilot valve sleeve 62 directly into4 the interior of the casing 60. Upon downward movement of the pilot valve heads,' duid is discharged from the hydraulic cylinder 25 through a port 69 formed in the sleeve and the casing.

The upper end of the pilot valve stem is connected to the lever 38 by a pivot 10 (Fig. 3). In order to reduce or eliminate play between the pivot and the pilot valve stem 33 an abutment 1I formed on an upper portion of the stem-33 is biased upward by a spring 12 between the abutment and the upper face of the sleeve 62.

The evacuated bellows 44 has a lower endl plate 13 dished inward and with a central portion connected to a small tube 14 through which the bellows is evacuat'd after assembly, the tube 14 bein-r subsequently sealed. An upper end plate 15 of the distance between the connection of the link means 31 with the lever 36 -and the right-hand end of this lever has to be about 1/am of the total length of the lever 36. This is accomplished by myrinvention by a link or like connecting element engaging an eccentric on the right-hand end of the lever 36, that is, on the pivotal connection between the lever 36 and the bell crank 4l.

The fulcrum 42 for supporting the bell crank 4I is formed by a bracket on the casing 60. O ne arm of the bell crank 4I, as explained above, is pivotally connected to the operating link 43 and the other arm of the bell crank 4| is pivotally connected to the right-hand end of the lever 36. 'Ihe pivot connection between the bell crank 4I and the lever 36 is formed by a pivot 85 rigidly secured to the lever 36 and prevented from rotation relathe bellows has a central projection 16 projecting into proximity of the dished-in portion of the The projection 16 with said rality of screws 80. Collapsing movement of the bellows 41 is limited by a flanged ,cylinder 8i located -inside the bellows 41 with its lower portion extending to 'the proximity' of the plate 11 and its upper ilanged portion held between the ring 19 and the casing 68. The pipe 49 is connected into an opening of the casing communicating with the bellows 41. The spring 58 is held at ,its lower end on the pin 46 and at its upper end on the bolt 5I which passes through a nut 82 and a lock nut 33. Loosening of the lock nut 83 permits adtive to the lever 36 by a square member 85a (Fig. 5) located in a square opening in thelever 36. The pivot 85 on one side of the square member 85a projects loosely through an opening in the bell crank 4I. An eccentric 86 is formed on the other side of the square member 85a. 'I'he eccentric 86 is in the Iiorm of a cylindrical member se cured to thel lever 36 opposite the pivot 85 and off-center relative to the pivotal center or support. AThe eccentricity; that is, the distance between the centers of the pin 85, and the eccentric 88 'is designated with the character 81 (Fig. 4). The eccentric 36 corresponds to the pivot between the link 31 and the lever'36 in Fig. l. The lower central vportion of the eccentric 86 engages the upper end of a rod 88 which has a lower; forked portion' 39 with prongs on opposite sides ofthe lever 38 and a pin 99 between the prongs in engagement with the upper surface of the lever 38. The right-hand end of the lever 38 is biased upward into engagement with the pin 93 by a compression spring 9| held on a lug 92 (Fig. 2) formed by the casing 60. 'Ihe spring 9| maintains engagement between the lever'33,l the rod 38 and the eccentric 86. y

The rod 88 is guided in a bearing formed by the casing '60. The rod 3 8 and the stem 21 of the hydraulic motor are the only movable elements passing through openings in the casing-the latter `forming a bearing for each of these elements.

justment of the bolt or screw-threaded rod 5i.-

The left-hand portion of the casing in Fig. 2 is connected to a drain conduit 34 through which operating fluid discharged from the hydraulicmotor and the pilot valve is drained from the casing Theright-hand end of the floating lever 33 is connected to the follow-up and control leve;` 36. A

Leakage of fluid along these bearings past the l casing is reduced by packings. 'I'he packings for the rod' 88and the piston stem 11 are similar. As shown in Fig. 2 the packing for the rod 33 comprises a ring 93 of flexible fluid-retaining material located in a groove 94 of the casing and biased downward by a ilanged ring 95 and a The forked connections between the various levers,

and links provide -for a rigid construction and reduce undesirable movement of these elements due to play or clearances between them. Also, these forked connections and the bar-shaped lever and link constructions permit these elements to be made of light weight, an important consideration when used on aircraft.

The pilot valve 29, 30 may be moved autoinati cally by action of the pressure responsive bellows 4l, l1 or manually by actuation of the link d3. Thus, if the link 43 is moved to the right it causes clockwise turning of the bellcrank 4| about its fulcrum 42 whereby the eccentric 86' is turned upward, permitting upward movement of the rod 88 by action of the spring 9| and coun'terclockwise turning movement of the floating lever 38 about its left-hand end. This causes upward movement' of the pilot valve 29, 30, resulting in downward movement of the piston 26 and the stem 21.. Downward movement of the stem 2l causes counterclockwise turning of the lever 36 about the pivot 25, resulting in downward movementof the eccentric 8B, which latter turns about the center of the pivot 85, thus forcing the rod 88 downward against the biasing force of the spring 9i and causing clockwise turning of the lever 38 about its left-hand end and downward movement of the pilot valve 39, 40. This follow-up or restoring action continues until the pilot valve heads 29, 30 have been restored to their original line-in-line position with the respective ports. Y

Having described the method of operation ot my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

t I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A control mechanism comprising a control ling device, a floating lever connected to the device, a pilot valve connected to the lever, a hydraulic motor having a stem and being controlled by the pilot valve, and a follow-up mechanism between the stem and the iioating lever including a lever connected to the stem, means pivotally supporting the lever, a cylindrical member secured to the lever oil-center relative to the center of the pivotal support to form an eccentric, and means engaging thev eccentric and the iioating lever including a rod and a spring. 2. A control mechanism comprising a hydraulic motor having a piston with a stem, a pilot valve for controlling the motor, and a follow-up -mechanism between the stem and the pilot valve comprising a control lever having one end connected to the stem and another end withva pivot on one side for connectionl to a control member, a cylindrical member secured to the other side of said other end and forming an eccentric relative tothe pivot, and means for transmitting movement of the eccentric about the pivotal center to the pilot valve including a ro'd and a spring.

3; A control mechanism comprising a hydraulic motor having a stem, a pilot valve for controlling the ilow o operating fluid to the motor, a floating lever connected to the pilot valve, a device subject to a condition to be controlled connected to the oating lever. and a follow-up mechanism between the stem and the pilot valve comprising a follow-up lever having one end connected to the stem, means including a pivot Vsecured to the follow-up lever normally holding the other end of the follow-up lever in a fixed position, a cylndrical member supported on the other end to form an eccentric relative to the pivot, and means for transmitting movement of the eccentric to the oating lever including a rQd loosely engaging the eccentric and spring means biasing the rod towards the eccentric.

4. A governing mechanism comprising a casing, a'hydraulic motor having a cylinder formed in the casing and a piston projecting through an opening in the casing, a pilot valve for the motor disposed within the casing, a device located inthe casing and responsive to a condition to be conr trolled; a oating lever within thecasing con-V nected to the device and the pilot valve, and

means for positioning the floating leverv independently of the movement of the device and for restoring the pilot valve to its neutral position in response to movement of the stem, said means comprising a follow-up lever having one end connected to the piston stem, a controlmember pivotally connected to the other en d of the follow-up lever, an eccentric supported on the pivotal connections, and a rod engaging the eccentric and 4g the oating lever.

DONALD F.' WARNER. 

